An Amazing Proposal
by doconnor
Summary: Sora takes a reckless new student under her wing and Ken isn't happy about it.
1. Chapter 1

_This is a couple of years after the end of the series. Sora is an established star and performed the Legendary Great Maneuver with Rosetta, during which Sora and Ken became a couple._

KaleidoStar is about to begin. When reading this fanfiction make sure your back light is turned all the way down and you sit as close to the LCD as you can.

_Well, well, well..._

_It's audition day for the KaleidoStage school and I'm even more nervous then when I auditioned._

_The Boss has asked me to help him select the new students. That means I'll might be responsible for ending some dreams._

_Wait! What is Ken doing coming on to the stage? What? What? What?_

**KaleidoStar: On Towards the Sky**

**An Amazing Proposal**

by Darwin O'Connor

KaleidoStar created by Junichi Sato

Sora slowly pushed open the door to her room and glanced around the dim walkway, coloured orange from the rising sun. Seeing noone, she pulled the door open to revel Ken, looking dazed and his face flush. She pulled him out, her fingers intertwined with his.

They walked quietly down the hall and turned the corner to encounter their worst fear.

Sarah was in an exercise suit jogging in place. She smiled broadly. "Hi Sora! Hi Ken!" Sarah leaned in closer to them. "Why are you here at this hour of the morning?"

Sora mouth made jagged shapes as she tried to think of something to say. Over night visitors weren't allowed in the dormitories, especially when they are of the opposite gender.

Ken felts a bead of sweat form on his forehead. He blurted out, "I just met up with Sora, so we can review the performance tapes of the candidates. We where just heading down to the stage."

Sarah patted Ken on the back so hard he almost fell over. "Great! I was just going for my morning job. You two can join me."

Sora stuttered, "Sure. Lets you, Ken and I do that, what you just said."

As they jogged together Sora realized what a bad idea this was. She wouldn't be able to get back to the dorm for a shower or breakfast. She wouldn't be able to catch up on sleep in the afternoon because of the auditions and she had a performance tonight. Not to mention she left Fool stuffed in the bathroom sink drain.

When they reached the road to KaleidoStage Sora waved to Sarah as she continued her jog. Ken bent down and panted. Catching his breath he managed to say, "Some of us aren't professional athletes, you know."

Sora answered by jogging off to the pier.

When she reached the gate she had to wait for Ken to catch up. Despite being a headliner she had never been given a key.

She was surprised to see someone already waiting there. He was tall with an light complexion and red hair. His tight fitting yoga top showed off his muscled physic, but he was still fairly lean. He seemed a little but younger then Sora.

He stood up straight and made a Japanese style bow. "_Konnichiwa, Naegino Sora_."

"_Ohayou gozaimasu. Doko de nihongo o manabimashita ka?_"

He looked confused. "Um. I don't know Japanese. I just know a few words I picked up from watching Anime." He stretched out to shake her hand. "I'm Jason McDougal. It's an honour to meet KaleidoStage's top star, especially so early in the morning."

Sora was getting nervous about why this guy was waiting at the gate at this time of day. She thought he might have been a stalker type. They had shown up from time to time after a show, but security was always around, whisked them away and she never saw them again.

She glanced back at Ken who seemed to be taking a long time getting there. She turned back to him. "May I ask why you are here?"

"Oh! I'm in the audition today. I didn't want to be late so I decided to show up early and take in the atmosphere." He glaceed around at the muddy shore and the brush covered hill. "I'm sure a professional like yourself would never allow herself to show up late to an audition."

Sora rubbed the back of her neck nervously. She decided to change the subject. "What kind of performing do you do?"

"I do tumbling, rings, a bit of trapeze, mostly just catching. I going to do trampoline for the audition. Let me show you." He cupped his hands together in front of him. "I'll throw you up and then catch you."

Sora was relieved he didn't seem like a stalker and was intrigued by his offer. She slipped off her shoes. "How about a flip?"

He bent his knees and said, "Sure."

She ran up to him, stepped on to his hands and he pushed her into the air. She was impressed by his power. She completed the flip and he caught her around her thighs.

Ken shouted, "Hey! What are you doing?"

Sora looked down on him, still being held. "This guy was just showing me his stuff."

Jason struggled to get his face out of her loose shirt.

Ken didn't know who he was mad at. "You are being reckless. You could have injured her"

Sora put her hands on his shoulders and noticed his muscle tone. She squeezed him as he set her down.

Jason turned to Ken. "I'm very sorry. I was wrong to take such a risk with a performer. I've been accused of being reckless before. I'll try my best to curb myself here at KaleidoStage."

Ken snapped back, "You won't be here long being reckless." He turned to Sora. "Why did you do that? You had no idea if he could catch you."

Sora was getting angry with Ken. "He told me he was here for the audition. He..." Sora started to realize she had made a mistake.

Ken impatiently opened to gate.

Jason said, "Once again, I apologies for being reckless. I guess I'm a bit of a showoff." He stepped into a handstand onto a concrete barrier, cartwheeled and leaped into a back-flip but one of his feet slid off and he fell on to the grass on the other side of the barrier. He poked his head up and said, "See, reckless."

Sora laughed and clapped. "7.5," she said.

Ken had already entered the gate and was ready to close it, but he was waiting for Sora.

Sora looked back and forth between Ken and Jason. "Well..." she started to say.

Jason interrupted, "I'll just stay out here until it's time. I've imposed on you enough for one day." He stepped backwards until he was standing on the barrier. "Just don't tell any of the judges about what I did."

Sora entered the gate, turned to Jason and said, "I'm one of the judges."

Jason fell backwards off the barrier again. Sora laughed as she headed down the pier.

* * *

><p>Kalos stepped on to the stage, his glasses glinting. The tension, already high, went up another notch in the small auditorium located under the bleachers. "Welcome to KaleidoStage." The crowd lightly applauded. It was dying out, but surged again as some people noticed Sora sneaking in a side door. She blushed and waved to the crowd before sitting down in the front row.<p>

Kalos scowled at her and turned back to the crowd. "To be great performers you must shine even under immense pressure. You have no friends or family in this audience. No well wishers. It consists of your rivals. Your every success takes away a little bit of their dreams. You every failure brings them closer to fulfilling them. If you can bring cheers and applause from such a hostile group you may have what it takes to join us at KaleidoStage." People in the crowd gritted their teeth and glared at each other.

"And now to say a few words, Sora Naegino."

Sora was surprised at being called up. She scampered on to the staged and waved. "Thank you. Thank you. I'm, ah, really glad you're all here. Um. What I really wanted to say is." She glaceed down nervously at Kalos. She thought about all the times she had seen Layla disagree with him and how she never held back from speaking her mind. "What I wanted to say is that I disagree with everything Kalos just said." The audience laughed and a few cheered. "I think its great you have all come here to pursue your dreams and I wish all of you could join us. Just because you don't share someone's dream doesn't mean you shouldn't celebrate their achievements. So, no more petty revalues," Sora pointed at the audience, "or else."

There was laughter and cheers. Sora was relieved to see Kalos put down his papers to applaud. She stepped off the stage and Ken stepped up and announced the first audition.

Sora watch the auditions closely and led the applause at the end of every performance. She cheered when Kalos said, "Yes," and her heart would break every time he said, "No," but, each time she saw the technical sloppiness, the lack of physical strength or the joylessness of someone who had been forced into this by their parents.

A male aerial silk performer slipped when doing an inverse Iron Cross. He tried to grab the silk as he fell, but he hit the floor heavily. He lept up as if he had made a perfect landing and claimed back up on the silk and complete the routine as if nothing had happened.

After the performance was complete Kalos usually decided quickly, but this time he hummed as the preformer stood on the stage, breathing heavily. Kalos looked to his side and said, "Sora?"

Suddenly being put on the spot at first she panicked that she would have to turn him down. Then she thought about it and remember how he tried to pretend the fall was part of the act and that it didn't effect the rest of his performance. She smiled and nodded her head saying, "Yes!" A small cheer rose from the crowd.

After clearing the silk from the stage Ken called up the next candidate. She did a rhythmic gymnastics routine with a ball that included acrobatic moves. It was nearly technically perfect and the combination of the two disciplines was unique and mesmerizing. Near the end she threw the ball in the air and went into a handstand to catch it with her legs, but it slipped out and bounced into the audience.

The performer swore and crawled to the edge of the stage where a member of the crowd handed the ball back. She turned to Kalos asked, "Can I start over?"

Kalos shook his head. "No. Thank you." He glanced at Ken to prepare for the next audition.

She yelled, "No, wait! You can't let me go." Kalos looked unmoved. "Miss Sora, can't you tell him to keep me?"

Sora felt the pressure once again, but this time it didn't let up because she had trouble thinking of a reason to keep her. While she had excellent technical skills her smile seem painted on. A lot of her tricks where actually easier then they looked.

The girl on the stage interrupted Sara's thought. "The last guy messed up worse then I did and you accepted him."

Kalos started to look impatient. "He didn't ask to try again. He kept going like nothing happened."

Sora realized the best part of the performance was the unique combination of the two different disciplines. "Did you do your own choreography?"

"Um. My mom wasn't happy with what my gymnastic teacher did so she got Mr. Sabra to do it."

Sora sat down and looked at the floor. Kalos wrote something down and said, "Thank you. Before you go could you give us Mr. Sabra's phone number?"

During the next few auditions Sora was only asked her opinion about a couple of performer's skills.

Near the end it was Jason's turn. Ken supervised as his people pulled the trampoline into position. Jason stepped on to the stage. He glanced at Sora and smiled. Then he took a running leap on to the trampolined, spinning in the air. He went directly into his routine, doing a trick on every jump but still able to steadily increase his height. Sora sensed that he was improvising most of his performance. Soon he was getting so high Sora was looking almost straight up to see him.

After doing a nice triple somersault he bounced back up as high as he could and grabbed a large halogen light that was hanging from the ceiling. Some of the audience gasped. He starting swinging on it and hoisted himself up when there was a large creaking sound and the light came lose from its chain and started falling, taking Jason with it. He managed to push himself away so he landed on his back on the trampoline and the light hit the mat on the stage. It shattered sending shards skimming across the floor toward the people in the front row. Sora instinctively covered her face, but only felt a couple of pieces bounce off her feet.

Sora uncovered her eyes, looked around and saw that no one was hurt. Ken was already having the trampoline carefully removed from the slightly darker stage so cleanup could being.

Jason looked down at Kalos from the edge of the stage. "I'm very sorry, sir."

Kalos didn't look happy. "That was reckless. You can go."

"I understand." He started to leave, but there was still glass on the stage. While he felt like he deserved to walk barefoot over broken glass, he thought better of it and went the other way.

Suddenly Sora stood up and yelled, "Wait!" Jason stopped and turned around. "Boss, he should stay. His skills are good. He just took a silly risk that didn't pay off. He is the kind of student we need at KaleidoStage."

Jason stepped off the stage and faced Kalos. "I apologize for being reckless. After seeing all the other acts I thought I needed to do something spectacular to get in. I went too far and I won't do it again."

Kalos looked Jason over carefully.

Sora pleaded with her eyes. "I've swung from my share of overhead lights. Besides, he has excellent musculature." Ken grunted has he and his crew lifted the damaged mat.

Kalos adjusted his glasses. "Very well Jason. You may join us, but he will be your responsibility, Sora."

Sora nodded and said, "_Hai._"

Kalos sat back down and looked up at Ken. He was pushing a broom across the stage to clear up the last of the glass. "We'll be ready in a few minutes, Boss."

Kalos sat back and reviewed some papers.

_Bumper_


	2. Chapter 2

Song Dwarf's singing rose to a crescendo as the Prince leaned down to give the beautiful Snow White a gentle kiss on the cheek to wake her.

She did not stir.

Song Dwarf repeated the last bar even louder.

Up in the control room Ken ordered, "Hold the clock."

The sound engineer looked down at the stage. "Oh God. She actually fell asleep."

Some people in the audience started to snicker. It took all the Wicked Queen's self-control to stay dead.

The Prince leaned down to give another not so gentle kiss. She didn't move so he quickly reached in and pinched her arm.

Snow White sat up suddenly, eyes wide. There was laughter as the Prince picked her up in his strong arms.

"Resume the clock," Ken announced with relief.

The sound engineer look back at Ken and raised his eyebrows.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Don't you read the forums on Sora's fan site?"

Ken looked away and made a mental note to tell Mia to pay more attention to moderating the website.

By the time Ken was finished his work Sora was still at the stage door talking to the last couple of fans. It was her favorite time of the day because at least one person always told her she had inspired them to try and join KaleidoStage when they grew up.

Ken stepped out of the stage door just as Sora waved to the last two fans. She turned to Ken and kissed him more deeply then usual.

As she did after every performance, she asked him, "Good show?"

"Ah, yes. You did a double instead of a triple for the first jump for the trapeze finale."

"Yea, well. I did that on purpose because I was still trying to wakeup." Sora suddenly looked nervous. "I don't think you should stay overnight at my dorm anymore. You nearly got caught this morning and I need to get enough sleep."

Ken did his best to hide his disappointment, but her reasons where sensible. "I understand. I love you." They hugged.

Sora smiled. "I love you, too. We'll get together on Monday, our day off."

Ken smiled back. "Can I walk you home?"

"Of course."

During Monday morning practice Sora saw Jason in the gymnasium. She called to him, "Do want to be my catcher?"

He scrambled off the trampoline in the corner and said, "Um, sure." He was nervous because during his short time at KaleidoStage he learned how much reverence everyone had for Sora, he talked with people who saw her perform the Legendary Great Maneuver and listened with disbelief to the rumours about the things she had done during training.

He hurried up the ladder and grabbed the trapeze from its holder. He looked up and was surprised to see Sora was already swinging. He held himself back from rushing and let himself swing a few times before turning himself upside down and hanging from his knees.

He was working to synchronize himself with her when suddenly Sora threw herself into the air, rapidly spinning. He stretched out to catch her and she grabbed his arms and he grabbed hers.

A couple of people cheered from below. Jason couldn't believe what he saw. "Was was that a triple somersault?"

Sora looked up at him. "Yea. I know my timing was a bit off."

Jason was even more shocked. "You grabbed my forearms perfectly."

"I was aiming for your elbows. I'm still warming up."

Jason mumbled to himself, "She does triples to warm up?"

"Throw me back with a twist."

Jason was about to say that he had never done that before, but decided that shouldn't let that stop him. On the next swing he pulled back with his right arm and pushed forward with his left and spun Sora as hard as he could but delayed letting go until they had lost forward momentum. Sora spun beautifully but didn't even try to reach the trapeze. She allowed herself to fall on to the netting.

Jason cringed. "I'm sorry. I've never done that before."

Sora was already climbing back up the latter. "No problem, I'll show you how to do it."

Sora did another perfect triple and easily reached his elbows. She showed him how to do the throw by twisting his arms as they swung. When he tried it himself he felt he did a poor job but Sora still made one and a half rotations before reaching the other trapeze.

They continued to practice with Sora easily doing big trick and Jason struggling to do a twisting throw.

After a while Sora turned upside down on her trapeze and said, "Now I'll catch you."

Jason pulled himself up so that he was hanging by his arms. He noticed the trapezes where a lot further apart then he was used to. As they swing together he said, "I haven't done this in a long time."

Sora just smiled.

On the next swing he threw himself into the air, did a somersault and reached out to grab Sora. He saw her reaching impossibly far and manged to grab her wrists. He looked up in time to see Sora's ankles slip off the bar. He let go as he was trained too when you fall, but she held on so they fell together.

Sora said, "I guess I haven't done that in a long time either." They both laughed.

On the catwalk above them Ken scowled and walked out of the gymnasium and into the exercise room.

Anna and Mia where next to each other doing bench presses on weight machines. Mia was struggling. "When I agreed to be part of the cast instead of writing this show I thought it would be fun and relaxing."

Anna seemed to be having an easier time. "You got too many exemptions from training, while still eating as if you where burning through calories like the rest of us."

"Hey!" Mia noticed Ken looking sad and, seeing it as an opportunity to take a break, got up and asks, "What's wrong Ken?"

"Nothing. Sora is just helping out that new guy, Jason."

Anna got up as well. "Yea. He is pretty hot."

Ken couldn't hold in a growl. From the gym he could hear Sora shouting timing calls, the trapeze rattling, someone falling on the net and then Sora and Jason laughing.

Ken spontaneously sat down at a weight machine and started lifting.

A short time later Sora popped her head around the corner of the door. Ken's face lit up when he saw her. "Ah, Ken. I saw you before and I was wondering where you had gone. It looks like we won't be able to hang out today. I need to go over theory with Jason. See ya."

Sora left before Ken had time to react. He put his head down as Mia and Anna put a hand on each of his shoulder. Anna said, "That's rough, man."

Mia added, "There's always next Monday."

Ken went back home for the day.


End file.
